The Issue With Blogs
by Pastor Matthew E. Walker, 14 June 2006
Since the earliest days of the internet
Christians have been feeling out the issues involved in this complex
but potentially helpful resource. Believers living during the
1970’s did not have to deal with internet pornography and
sexual predators combing the internet for victims. At the same
time there have been advances using this new technology and the
impact has been a huge blessing. One example is the easy access
to so much great preaching. Those same Christians who did not
have computers with internet filters also did not have access
to millions of sermons and related files that bolster the ability
of the pastor to minister effectively. The internet is basically
a two-edged sword with the ability to both harm and help.
One segment of that is the blogosphere. It has
the ability to help. From a political standpoint this was evident
during the last presidential campaign as CBS News led their evening
broadcast questioning President Bush’s service record only
to have the story unravel because of the instant response by bloggers.
It also has the ability to harm. Anyone who has posted his opinions
on a site will agree that blogging is not for the thin-skinned.
Many times the malice vented on the web is shocking. One recent
example was an article from a seminary professor (emeritus) that
pronounced the earth to be the center of the universe. While I
don’t agree with him at all in his exegesis of the Genesis
text on that one issue I also take umbrage at many of the sarcastic
and just plain mean posts that were given in response. I remember
a few years ago having my salvation questioned by a blogger who
didn’t like a position I took on a Biblical issue. On another
occasion a private e-mail to a pastor was posted on his blog with
his added comments to it that questioned my own devotion to Scripture.
I am sure that I also have offended people by some of my posts
and admit that I almost added my sarcastic voice to the chorus
shouting down the geocentric theorist. I know that I have been
guilty of the very thing. Blogging can inflict pain. It can be
harmful.
Thinking about this more in depth I personally
counted four concerns I have over the nature of blogging as it
stands now.
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Posts are limited in their ability to communicate. What is
lost in translation is the nuances of facial expression and
vocal pitch. I have friends who might call me a moron (and
they would be joking . . . I hope) to my face and I wouldn’t
think anything about it because I can see their face and hear
their voice. Posts do not give us that luxury. One is forced
to read into the words and give the writer the benefit of
the doubt.
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Posts shroud the age and respectability of the writer. One
thing that is virtually lost in a blog is the age of the writer
and therefore the respect that should be afforded a post.
I know some older men who have posted on blogs only to have
their comments dismissed out of hand by much younger men who
“know better.” That is a serious concern to me.
We would not do that to their face but are willing to do that
on a blog.
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Posts offer instant responses. The lesson of being slow
to speak is almost completely lost on a blog. How many times
I remember my father’s advice about writing a letter,
especially one that was critical. “Let it sit overnight
and then re-read it in the morning. If you still feel that
way then send it.” Usually, when following that sound
advice, I destroyed the letter the next day. That is a much
harder principle to follow when blogging.
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Posts offer an atmosphere of much talking and little listening.
Reading through a blogroll I am astounded by how many posts
demonstrate that the original post text was not actually read.
The sheer number of people talking is overwhelming. I wonder
if anyone is actually listening.
These four concerns forced me to turn to Scripture
for help. I immediately sought out the advice of Pastor James.
His book on Spiritual Maturity seems like a bottomless well offering
the best on the subject of how to deal with the blogosphere.
James offers his theme of spiritual maturity
in 1:4 and closes his first chapter with three tests of maturity
(in case any thought he had arrived) 1:26-27—the controlled
tongue, compassion on the less fortunate, and separateness from
worldliness. Chapter 2 lays out the arguments for the second of
these tests. Chapter 3 lays out the arguments regarding the first
test on the tongue. James says that the spiritually mature Christian
will have a controlled tongue (which principles obviously apply
to the blogosphere).
I like what James says about his own struggles
in this area (3:2).
I also like his picturesque illustrations—the
horse’s bit and the ship’s rudder, the fire and the
poisonous animal, and the fountain and the tree. We find in vs.
3-4 the tongue’s power to direct; in vs. 5-8 the tongue’s
power to destroy, and in vs. 9-12 the tongue’s power to
delight. I thank Warren Wiersbe for this simple outline.
It is the next section though (3:13-19) that
I find most helpful in discerning posts on the blogosphere, particularly
vs. 17.
What James gives here is a simple formula for
reading a post and determining whether it is full of true, God-given
wisdom or not. If a post is filled with God’s wisdom then
it will have a quality about it that pushes it above the rest.
What are those qualities? Is it the skill in framing a question
or controlling the argument? Is it the ability to smith words
together? Here is what James says essentially in James 3:17 (my
own paraphrase)
But the wisdom that comes from God is, first
of all, innocent and chaste; then peaceable; appropriately mild
and open to reason; it is considerate and humble; compassionate
and beneficial, impartial and sincere.
There is no verse that describes the perfect
post better than that one. It may be that the post is humorous
or confrontational, light-hearted or serious, but it must have
these qualities about it or it is just the wisdom of man. Being
right about an issue does not mean that one is right before the
Lord.
I am not saying we shouldn’t blog. Iron
is supposed to sharpen iron. However, I am pleading with all of
us to take some extra time to introspect before we click on the
submit button. Before we post we should take Dad’s advice
and let it sit until we have had ample time to reflect as to whether
it is really wisdom from God. Remember Job’s friends.
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